Technology

Yatsen Announces Third Quarter 2024 Financial Results

Published

2 years ago

November 20, 2024

Conference Call to Be Held at 7:30 A.M. U.S. Eastern Time on November 20, 2024

GUANGZHOU, China, Nov. 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Yatsen Holding Limited (“Yatsen” or the “Company”) (NYSE: YSG), a leading China-based beauty group, today announced its unaudited financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2024.

Third Quarter 2024 Highlights

Total net revenues for the third quarter of 2024 decreased by 5.7% to RMB677.0 million (US$96.5 million) from RMB718.1 million for the prior year period.Total net revenues from Skincare Brands[1] for the third quarter of 2024 increased by 3.6% to RMB267.9 million (US$38.2 million) from RMB258.5 million for the prior year period. As a percentage of total net revenues, total net revenues from Skincare Brands for the third quarter of 2024 were 39.6%, as compared with 36.0% for the prior year period.Gross margin for the third quarter of 2024 increased to 75.9% from 71.4% for the prior year period.Net loss for the third quarter of 2024 was RMB121.1 million (US$17.3 million), as compared with RMB197.9 million for the prior year period. Non-GAAP net loss[2] for the third quarter of 2024 was RMB76.6 million (US$10.9 million), as compared with RMB130.2 million for the prior year period.

Mr. Jinfeng Huang, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Yatsen, stated, “China’s beauty industry encountered significant challenges in the third quarter, with beauty sales declining year over year for four consecutive months from June to September. Against this backdrop, our three major clinical and premium skincare brands, including Galénic, DR.WU and Eve Lom, delivered another solid performance, bolstering our skincare segment overall. Going forward, we will continue to execute our development strategy, enhancing brand equity and product mix while further optimizing our cost structure to drive growth and profitability.”

Mr. Donghao Yang, Director and Chief Financial Officer of Yatsen, commented, “Our third quarter total net revenues declined by 5.7% year over year in line with our previous guidance. However, our three major skincare brands together continued to grow steadily, with combined net revenues increasing by 10.5% year over year. Furthermore, we improved our gross margin to 75.9% from 71.4% in the prior year period, while narrowing our net loss margin and non-GAAP net loss margin to 17.9% and 11.3%, respectively. We remain confident in our strategy and execution capabilities, and committed to propelling the Company’s sustainable development.”

Third Quarter 2024 Financial Results

Net Revenues

Total net revenues for the third quarter of 2024 decreased by 5.7% to RMB677.0 million (US$96.5 million) from RMB718.1 million for the prior year period. The decrease was primarily due to a 10.0% year-over-year decrease in net revenues from Color Cosmetics Brands,[3] partially offset by a 3.6% year-over-year increase in net revenues from Skincare Brands.

Gross Profit and Gross Margin

Gross profit for the third quarter of 2024 increased by 0.2% to RMB513.8 million (US$73.2 million) from RMB512.8 million for the prior year period. Gross margin for the third quarter of 2024 increased to 75.9% from 71.4% for the prior year period. The increase was primarily driven by an increase in sales of higher-gross-margin products.

Operating Expenses

Total operating expenses for the third quarter of 2024 decreased by 12.0% to RMB655.2 million (US$93.4 million) from RMB744.3 million for the prior year period. As a percentage of total net revenues, total operating expenses for the third quarter of 2024 were 96.8%, as compared with 103.6% for the prior year period.

Fulfillment Expenses. Fulfillment expenses for the third quarter of 2024 were RMB50.4 million (US$7.2 million), as compared with RMB56.0 million for the prior year period. As a percentage of total net revenues, fulfillment expenses for the third quarter of 2024 decreased to 7.4% from 7.8% for the prior year period. The decrease was primarily due to an increase in the overall average selling price of the Company’s products, as well as further improvements in logistics efficiency.

Selling and Marketing Expenses. Selling and marketing expenses for the third quarter of 2024 were RMB494.4 million (US$70.4 million), as compared with RMB511.7 million for the prior year period. As a percentage of total net revenues, selling and marketing expenses for the third quarter of 2024 increased to 73.0% from 71.3% for the prior year period. The increase was primarily due to increased investments in the Douyin platform, in line with the growing revenue contribution from Douyin, partially offset by lower marketing expenses as a result of the Company’s more strategic marketing spending.

General and Administrative Expenses. General and administrative expenses for the third quarter of 2024 were RMB85.0 million (US$12.1 million), as compared with RMB151.8 million for the prior year period. As a percentage of total net revenues, general and administrative expenses for the third quarter of 2024 decreased to 12.6% from 21.1% for the prior year period. The decrease was primarily attributable to lower payroll expenses resulting from a reduction in general and administrative headcount and lower share-based compensation expenses.

Research and Development Expenses. Research and development expenses for the third quarter of 2024 were RMB25.3 million (US$3.6 million), as compared with RMB24.7 million for the prior year period. As a percentage of total net revenues, research and development expenses for the third quarter of 2024 increased to 3.7% from 3.4% for the prior year period. The increase was primarily attributable to the deleveraging effect of lower total net revenues in the third quarter of 2024.

Loss from Operations

Loss from operations for the third quarter of 2024 was RMB141.3 million (US$20.1 million), as compared with RMB231.5 million for the prior year period. Operating loss margin was 20.9%, as compared with 32.2% for the prior year period.

Non-GAAP loss from operations[4] for the third quarter of 2024 was RMB98.5 million (US$14.0 million), as compared with RMB164.6 million for the prior year period. Non-GAAP operating loss margin was 14.5%, as compared with 22.9% for the prior year period.

Net Loss

Net loss for the third quarter of 2024 was RMB121.1 million (US$17.3 million), as compared with RMB197.9 million for the prior year period. Net loss margin was 17.9%, as compared with 27.6% for the prior year period. Net loss attributable to Yatsen’s ordinary shareholders per diluted ADS[5] for the third quarter of 2024 was RMB1.22 (US$0.17), as compared with RMB1.81 for the prior year period.

Non-GAAP net loss for the third quarter of 2024 was RMB76.6 million (US$10.9 million), as compared with RMB130.2 million for the prior year period. Non-GAAP net loss margin was 11.3%, as compared with 18.1% for the prior year period. Non-GAAP net loss attributable to Yatsen’s ordinary shareholders per diluted ADS[6] for the third quarter of 2024 was RMB0.77 (US$0.11), as compared with RMB1.19 for the prior year period.

Balance Sheet and Cash Flow

As of September 30, 2024, the Company had cash, restricted cash and short-term investments of RMB1.31 billion (US$186.5 million), as compared with RMB2.08 billion as of December 31, 2023.

Net cash used in operating activities for the third quarter of 2024 was RMB175.9 million (US$25.1 million), as compared with RMB163.4 million for the prior year period.

Business Outlook

For the fourth quarter of 2024, the Company expects its total net revenues to be between RMB1.07 billion and RMB1.18 billion, representing a year-over-year increase of approximately 0% to 10%. These forecasts reflect the Company’s current and preliminary views on the market and operational conditions, which are subject to change.

Exchange Rate

This announcement contains translations of certain Renminbi (“RMB”) amounts into U.S. dollars (“US$”) at specified rates solely for the convenience of the reader. Unless otherwise noted, all translations from RMB to US$ were made at a rate of RMB7.0176 to US$1.00, the exchange rate in effect as of September 30, 2024, as set forth in the H.10 statistical release of The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The Company makes no representation that any RMB or US$ amounts could have been, or could be, converted into US$ or RMB, as the case may be, at any particular rate, or at all.

[1] Include net revenues from Galénic, DR.WU (its mainland China business), Eve Lom and other skincare brands of the Company.

[2] Non-GAAP net loss is a non-GAAP financial measure. Effective from the fourth quarter of 2023, non-GAAP net loss is defined as net loss excluding (i) share-based compensation expenses, (ii) amortization of intangible assets resulting from assets and business acquisitions, (iii) revaluation of investments on the share of equity method investments, (iv) impairment of goodwill and (v) tax effects on non-GAAP adjustments. Non-GAAP net loss for the prior year period presented in this document is also calculated in the same manner.

[3] Include Perfect Diary, Little Ondine, Pink Bear and other color cosmetics brands of the Company.

[4] Non-GAAP loss from operations is a non-GAAP financial measure. Effective from the fourth quarter of 2023, non-GAAP loss from operations is defined as loss from operations excluding (i) share-based compensation expenses, (ii) amortization of intangible assets resulting from assets and business acquisitions and (iii) impairment of goodwill. Non-GAAP loss from operations for the prior year period presented in this document is also calculated in the same manner.

[5] ADS refers to American depositary shares, each of which represents twenty Class A ordinary shares, effective from March 18, 2024. Prior to that date, each ADS represented four Class A ordinary shares. Unless otherwise stated, the current ADS ratio has been applied retrospectively to all periods presented in this document.

[6] Non-GAAP net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders per diluted ADS is a non-GAAP financial measure. Non-GAAP net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders per diluted ADS is defined as non-GAAP net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders divided by the weighted average number of diluted ADS outstanding for computing diluted earnings per ADS. Effective from the fourth quarter of 2023, non-GAAP net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders is defined as net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders excluding (i) share-based compensation expenses, (ii) amortization of intangible assets resulting from assets and business acquisitions, (iii) revaluation of investments on the share of equity method investments, (iv) impairment of goodwill, (v) tax effects on non-GAAP adjustments and (vi) accretion to redeemable non-controlling interests. Non-GAAP net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders per diluted ADS for the prior year period presented in this document is also calculated in the same manner.

Conference Call Information

The Company’s management will hold a conference call on Wednesday, November 20, 2024, at 7:30 A.M. U.S. Eastern Time or 8:30 P.M. Beijing Time to discuss its financial results and operating performance for the third quarter 2024.

United States (toll free):

+1-888-346-8982

International:

+1-412-902-4272

Mainland China (toll free):

400-120-1203

Hong Kong, SAR (toll free):

800-905-945

Hong Kong, SAR:

+852-3018-4992

Conference ID:

6604822

The replay will be accessible through Wednesday, November 27, by dialing the following numbers:

United States:

+1-877-344-7529

International:

+1-412-317-0088

Replay Access Code:

6604822

A live and archived webcast of the conference call will also be available on the Company’s investor relations website at http://ir.yatsenglobal.com.

About Yatsen Holding Limited

Yatsen Holding Limited (NYSE: YSG) is a leading China-based beauty group with the mission of creating an exciting new journey of beauty discovery for consumers around the world. Founded in 2016, the Company has launched and acquired numerous color cosmetics and skincare brands including Perfect Diary, Little Ondine, Pink Bear, Galénic, DR.WU (its mainland China business), Eve Lom and EANTiM. The Company’s flagship brand, Perfect Diary, is one of the leading color cosmetics brands in China in terms of retail sales value. The Company primarily reaches and engages with customers directly both online and offline, with expansive presence across all major e-commerce, social and content platforms in China.

For more information, please visit http://ir.yatsenglobal.com.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

The Company uses non-GAAP income (loss) from operations, non-GAAP net income (loss), non-GAAP net income (loss) attributable to ordinary shareholders and non-GAAP net income (loss) attributable to ordinary shareholders per diluted ADS, each a non-GAAP financial measure, in reviewing and assessing its operating performance. The presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. The Company presents these non-GAAP financial measures because they are used by the management to evaluate operating performance and formulate business plans. Non-GAAP financial measures help identify underlying trends in its business, provide further information about its results of operations, and enhance the overall understanding of its past performance and future prospects. The Company defines non-GAAP income (loss) from operations as income (loss) from operations excluding (i) share-based compensation expenses, (ii) amortization of intangible assets resulting from assets and business acquisitions and (iii) impairment of goodwill. The Company defines non-GAAP net income (loss) as net income (loss) excluding (i) share-based compensation expenses, (ii) amortization of intangible assets resulting from assets and business acquisitions, (iii) revaluation of investments on the share of equity method investments, (iv) impairment of goodwill and (v) tax effects on non-GAAP adjustments. The Company defines non-GAAP net income (loss) attributable to ordinary shareholders as net income (loss) attributable to ordinary shareholders excluding (i) share-based compensation expenses, (ii) amortization of intangible assets resulting from assets and business acquisitions, (iii) revaluation of investments on the share of equity method investments, (iv) impairment of goodwill, (v) tax effects on non-GAAP adjustments and (vi) accretion to redeemable non-controlling interests. Non-GAAP net income (loss) attributable to ordinary shareholders per diluted ADS is computed using non-GAAP net income (loss) attributable to ordinary shareholders divided by weighted average number of diluted ADS outstanding for computing diluted earnings per ADS.

However, the non-GAAP financial measures have limitations as analytical tools as the non-GAAP financial measures are not presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP and may differ from the non-GAAP information used by other companies, including peer companies, and therefore their comparability may be limited. The Company compensates for these limitations by reconciling the non-GAAP financial measures to the nearest U.S. GAAP performance measure, all of which should be considered when evaluating performance. The Company encourages investors and others to review its financial information in its entirety and not rely on a single financial measure. Reconciliations of Yatsen’s non-GAAP financial measure to the most comparable U.S. GAAP measure are included at the end of this press release.

Safe Harbor Statement

This announcement contains statements that may constitute “forward-looking” statements which are made pursuant to the “safe harbor” provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as “will,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “aims,” “future,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “estimates,” “likely to,” and similar statements. The Company may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its periodic reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about the Company’s beliefs, plans, outlook and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: the Company’s growth strategies; its future business development, results of operations and financial condition; its ability to continue to roll out popular products and maintain popularity of existing products; its ability to anticipate and respond to changes in industry trends and consumer preferences and behavior in a timely manner; its ability to attract and retain new customers and to increase revenues generated from repeat customers; its expectations regarding demand for and market acceptance of its products and services; its ability to integrate newly-acquired businesses and brands; trends and competition in and relevant government policies and regulations relating to China’s beauty market; changes in its revenues and certain cost or expense items; and general economic conditions globally and in China. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in the Company’s filings with the SEC. All information provided in this press release is as of the date of this press release, and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law.

For investor and media inquiries, please contact:

In China:

Yatsen Holding Limited
Investor Relations
E-mail: ir@yatsenglobal.com

Piacente Financial Communications
Hui Fan
Tel: +86-10-6508-0677
E-mail: yatsen@thepiacentegroup.com

In the United States:

Piacente Financial Communications
Brandi Piacente
Tel: +1-212-481-2050
E-mail: yatsen@thepiacentegroup.com

YATSEN HOLDING LIMITED

UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(All amounts in thousands, except for share, per share data or otherwise noted)

December 31,

September 30,

2023

2024

RMB’000

USD’000

Assets

Current assets

Cash and cash equivalents

836,888

503,075

71,688

Restricted Cash

21,248

–

Short-term investments

1,218,481

805,851

114,833

Accounts receivable, net

198,851

208,285

29,680

Inventories, net

352,090

438,419

62,474

Prepayments and other current assets

303,841

431,583

61,500

Amounts due from related parties

20,200

7,181

1,023

Total current assets

2,951,599

2,394,394

341,198

Non-current assets

Investments

618,752

628,355

89,540

Property and equipment, net

64,878

72,315

10,305

Goodwill, net

556,567

571,129

81,385

Intangible assets, net

671,396

638,079

90,926

Deferred tax assets

1,375

1,426

203

Right-of-use assets, net

114,348

129,303

18,426

Other non-current assets

27,100

25,728

3,666

Total non-current assets

2,054,416

2,066,335

294,451

Total assets

5,006,015

4,460,729

635,649

Liabilities, redeemable non-controlling interests and
shareholders’ equity

Current liabilities

Accounts payable

105,691

70,781

10,086

Advances from customers

41,579

31,604

4,504

Accrued expenses and other liabilities

391,217

392,448

55,923

Amounts due to related parties

9,431

14,832

2,114

Income tax payables

17,946

19,112

2,723

Lease liabilities due within one year

45,464

47,484

6,766

Total current liabilities

611,328

576,261

82,116

Non-current liabilities

Deferred tax liabilities

111,591

111,972

15,956

Deferred income-non current

30,556

18,401

2,622

Lease liabilities

67,767

83,042

11,833

Total non-current liabilities

209,914

213,415

30,411

Total liabilities

821,242

789,676

112,527

Redeemable non-controlling interests

51,466

49,737

7,087

Shareholders’ equity

Ordinary Shares (US$0.00001 par value; 10,000,000,000 ordinary
shares authorized, comprising of 6,000,000,000 Class A ordinary
shares, 960,852,606 Class B ordinary shares and 3,039,147,394
shares each of such classes to be designated as of December 31,
2023 and September 30, 2024; 2,030,600,883 Class A shares and
666,572,880 Class B ordinary shares issued as of December 31,
2023, 2,096,600,883 Class A shares and 600,572,880 Class B
ordinary shares issued as of September 30, 2024; 1,487,546,132
Class A ordinary shares and 666,572,880 Class B ordinary shares
outstanding as of December 31, 2023, 1,370,591,808 Class A
ordinary shares and 600,572,880 Class B ordinary shares
outstanding as of September 30, 2024)

173

Treasury shares

(864,568)

(1,066,199)

(151,932)

Additional paid-in capital

12,260,208

12,263,026

1,747,467

Statutory reserve

24,177

3,445

Accumulated deficit

(7,345,153)

(7,669,093)

(1,092,837)

Accumulated other comprehensive income

60,200

76,710

10,933

Total Yatsen Holding Limited shareholders’ equity

4,135,037

3,628,794

517,101

Non-controlling interests

(1,730)

(7,478)

(1,066)

Total shareholders’ equity

4,133,307

3,621,316

516,035

Total liabilities, redeemable non-controlling interests and
shareholders’ equity

5,006,015

4,460,729

635,649

YATSEN HOLDING LIMITED

UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

(All amounts in thousands, except for share, per share data or otherwise noted)

For the Three Months Ended September 30,

2023

2024

RMB’000

USD’000

Total net revenues

718,125

677,016

96,474

Total cost of revenues

(205,325)

(163,191)

(23,255)

Gross profit

512,800

513,825

73,219

Operating expenses:

Fulfilment expenses

(56,025)

(50,412)

(7,184)

Selling and marketing expenses

(511,706)

(494,357)

(70,445)

General and administrative expenses

(151,830)

(85,046)

(12,119)

Research and development expenses

(24,739)

(25,338)

(3,611)

Total operating expenses

(744,300)

(655,153)

(93,359)

Loss from operations

(231,500)

(141,328)

(20,140)

Financial income

30,319

7,722

1,100

Foreign currency exchange gain

1,800

12,825

1,828

Loss from equity method investments, net

(6,655)

(6,510)

(928)

Other income, net

8,780

6,239

889

Loss before income tax expenses

(197,256)

(121,052)

(17,251)

Income tax expenses

(654)

(4)

(1)

Net loss

(197,910)

(121,056)

(17,252)

Net loss (income) attributable to non-controlling interests and
redeemable non-controlling interests

1,371

(11)

(2)

Net loss attributable to Yatsen’s shareholders

(196,539)

(121,067)

(17,254)

Shares used in calculating loss per share (1):

Weighted average number of Class A and Class B ordinary shares:

Basic

2,173,360,208

1,986,538,509

Diluted

2,173,360,208

1,986,538,509

Net loss per Class A and Class B ordinary share

Basic

(0.09)

(0.06)

(0.01)

Diluted

(0.09)

(0.06)

(0.01)

Net loss per ADS (20 ordinary shares equal to 1 ADS) (2)

Basic

(1.81)

(1.22)

(0.17)

Diluted

(1.81)

(1.22)

(0.17)

For the Three Months Ended September 30,

2023

2024

Share-based compensation expenses are included in the
operating expenses as follows:

RMB’000

USD’000

Fulfilment expenses

767

252

Selling and marketing expenses

9,485

2,289

326

General and administrative expenses

42,635

23,743

3,383

Research and development expenses

763

109

Total

52,911

27,047

3,854

(1) Authorized share capital is re-classified and re-designated into Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares, with each
Class A ordinary share being entitled to one vote and each Class B ordinary share being entitled to twenty votes on all matters
that are subject to shareholder vote.

(2) Effective from March 18, 2024, the Company changed its ADS to Class A Ordinary Share ratio from one ADS representing
four ordinary shares to one ADS representing twenty ordinary shares. The historical and present income (loss) per ADS have
been adjusted retroactively for all periods presented to reflect this change.

YATSEN HOLDING LIMITED

UNAUDITED RECONCILIATIONS OF GAAP AND NON-GAAP RESULTS

(All amounts in thousands, except for share, per share data or otherwise noted)

For the Three Months Ended September 30,

2023

2024

RMB’000

USD’000

Loss from operations

(231,500)

(141,328)

(20,140)

Share-based compensation expenses

52,911

27,047

3,854

Amortization of intangible assets resulting from assets and
business acquisitions

13,956

15,779

2,248

Non-GAAP loss from operations

(164,633)

(98,502)

(14,038)

Net loss

(197,910)

(121,056)

(17,252)

Share-based compensation expenses

52,911

27,047

3,854

Amortization of intangible assets resulting from assets and
business acquisitions

13,956

15,779

2,248

Revaluation of investments on the share of equity method
investments

3,227

3,266

465

Tax effects on non-GAAP adjustments

(2,430)

(1,586)

(226)

Non-GAAP net loss

(130,246)

(76,550)

(10,911)

Net loss attributable to Yatsen’s shareholders

(196,539)

(121,067)

(17,254)

Share-based compensation expenses

52,911

27,047

3,854

Amortization of intangible assets resulting from assets and
business acquisitions

13,701

15,385

2,192

Revaluation of investments on the share of equity method
investments

3,227

3,266

465

Tax effects on non-GAAP adjustments

(2,430)

(1,559)

(222)

Non-GAAP net loss attributable to Yatsen’s shareholders

(129,130)

(76,928)

(10,965)

Shares used in calculating loss per share:

Weighted average number of Class A and Class B ordinary shares:

Basic

2,173,360,208

1,986,538,509

Diluted

2,173,360,208

1,986,538,509

Non-GAAP net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders per
Class A and Class B ordinary share

Basic

(0.06)

(0.04)

(0.01)

Diluted

(0.06)

(0.04)

(0.01)

Non-GAAP net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders per
ADS (20 ordinary shares equal to 1 ADS) (1)

Basic

(1.19)

(0.77)

(0.11)

Diluted

(1.19)

(0.77)

(0.11)

(1) Effective from March 18, 2024, the Company changed its ADS to Class A Ordinary Share ratio from one ADS representing
four ordinary shares to one ADS representing twenty ordinary shares. The historical and present income (loss) per ADS have
been adjusted retroactively for all periods presented to reflect this change.

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SOURCE Yatsen Holding Limited

Technology

Northern Hemisphere Heat Drives Demand for Cooling and Sun-Protection Products on Yiwugo

Published

34 minutes ago

July 24, 2026

YIWU, China, July 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Yiwugo.com, the official website of the Yiwu Commodity Market, is the largest commodity wholesale market in the world. The final whistle may have blown on the World Cup, but the intense heat gripping the Northern Hemisphere shows no sign of letting up. Europe has experienced unusually hot weather this year, sparking not only a surge in demand for air conditioners but also a boom in portable handheld fans. Merchants on Yiwugo say that in previous years, European customers would begin placing orders in March or April and take their time completing their annual procurement. This year, however, the purchasing season has stretched well into summer, with a flood of new buyers coming in, most of them looking for small handheld fans. With customers eager to capitalize on the peak summer season, delivery timelines have also become significantly tighter. Whereas orders in previous years could generally be fulfilled within a month, merchants are now frequently being asked to deliver within about a week, leaving manufacturers scrambling to keep pace with demand.

Lingpan Official Flagship Store has specialized in the production and sales of small fans, insulated cups, and related products for 15 years. This summer, demand from European customers for high-speed small fans has risen sharply, accompanied by urgent delivery requirements. Many customers began requesting shipment just one week after placing their orders, hoping the products would arrive in time for the World Cup and the ongoing heatwave across Europe. One long-standing European customer purchased only five models of small fans from Lingpan last year. Anticipating stronger demand ahead of this summer, the customer expanded the order to 10 models. The first shipment sold out soon after arriving at port, prompting several subsequent repeat orders. European buyers have shown particular interest in high-speed cooling fans and placed great requirements on product quality. So far this year, Lingpan’s fan sales have more than doubled compared with the same period last year, with total purchases reaching approximately RMB 1 million.

Beyond Europe, the owner of Lingpan, Ling Pan pointed out that the Indian market has also undergone significant changes over the past two years. Indian customers are showing great interest in panda-shaped fans, drinking cups, and related products. Procurement volumes among many Indian buyers have increased substantially, with average annual purchases now reaching several hundred thousand yuan.

Unlike European countries grappling with sudden heat waves, Asian markets such as Japan and South Korea, where summers are consistently hot and air conditioners and fans are already everyday essentials, have shown much stronger demand for sun-protection products. From April 1, 2026 to date, sales of sun-protection masks on Yiwugo have increased by 31.6% YoY, while sales of sun-protection face shields surged by 72.42% and sun hats rose by 8.1%.

Chen Jia, a Yiwugo merchant, has engaged in the production and sales of sun-protection masks and sun-protection face shields for eight years. Chen operates the Xiao Zhen and Xiao Mian Sun-Protection Products Workshop in District 4 of the Yiwu International Trade Market. In recent years, the company has customized cooling nylon fabrics for customers in Japan and South Korea. Sun-protection masks and sun-protection face shields made from this material not only offer UPF 50+ protection, but also maintain a more structured shape and are less susceptible to snagging or deformation. Their protective performance remains effective after routine washing, and the products can last for more than five years under normal use.

In 2024, a TV shopping operator from South Korea contacted Xiao Zheng and Xiao Mian through Yiwugo and began placing orders after inspecting the products in person. Over the following two years, the company continued to improve the fitness and design of its sun-protection products. It introduced sun-protection face shields with breathable mesh panels and incorporated soft supports around the nose area to prevent the masks from rubbing against lipstick. These product upgrades have steadily driven up customer ratings on the client’s store. Annual procurement, initially valued at around RMB 300,000, has risen year by year, and the company has since developed into a recognized brand in the local market.

Persistent heat across the Northern Hemisphere has been creating new forms of cross-border consumer demand while enabling Yiwugo merchants to keenly capture shifts in overseas markets. From the strong sales of small portable fans in Europe to the rising demand for functional sun-protection products in Japan and South Korea, the diversity of orders reflects both consumers’ need for relief from extreme heat and the ability of Yiwu manufacturers to strengthen their presence in global markets through product innovation and rapid fulfillment. Faced with a rapidly changing international market, many merchants are continuing to refine product designs, upgrade fabric techniques, and enhance supply efficiency. By leveraging Yiwugo to broaden their export channels, they are keeping pace with overseas consumption trends and capitalizing on the expanding market for cooling and sun-protection products, turning the summer heat into new momentum for cross-border trade.

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SOURCE Yiwugo.com

Technology

Snorkel AI Highlights First Wave of Open Benchmarks Grants Projects

Published

34 minutes ago

July 24, 2026

SAN FRANCISCO, July 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Snorkel AI today highlighted the first group of projects supported through Open Benchmarks Grants, a $3 million commitment to support open-source datasets, benchmarks, and evaluation research.

Launched in February 2026, Open Benchmarks Grants has received hundreds of applications from researchers, labs, and engineers working to address a growing challenge: AI systems are advancing faster than the field’s ability to rigorously measure their performance on realistic, consequential work.

“From complex environments and huge autonomy horizons to rich, sophisticated outputs, these projects tackle some of the field’s hardest evaluation challenges,” said Fred Sala, a member of the Open Benchmarks Grants steering committee and assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. “I’m excited to see the broader research community use, validate, and build on them.”

Open Benchmarks Grants provides selected teams with funding, expert data development support, research and engineering collaboration, and platform resources. Supported projects include:

Frontier-Bench (formerly Terminal-Bench 3.0), developed with Laude Institute and the Harbor community, is a harder, more domain-diverse successor to Terminal-Bench 2.1 — built in the open, task by task, under continuous adversarial review.Agents’ Last Exam, developed with UC Berkeley RDI and the RDI Foundation, evaluates agents on long-horizon, economically valuable professional workflows. It spans 55 sub-industries and includes more than 1,500 tasks toward a 5,000-task target, sourced and validated by more than 300 industry experts.OSWorld 2.0, developed with XLANG Lab, evaluates computer-use agents on 108 long-horizon workflows across 31 self-hosted web environments and professional desktop applications.Continual Learning Bench, developed with UC Berkeley SkyLab and the University of Wisconsin–Madison, measures whether agents genuinely improve across sequential, stateful tasks.SlopCode Bench, developed with the University of Wisconsin–Madison, measures how code quality degrades as coding agents repeatedly modify and extend their own solutions.Terminal-Bench 2.1, developed with Stanford University, Laude Institute and the Harbor community, evaluates agents on challenging work in terminal environments. The release corrected 28 tasks and introduced continuous validation.

With support from Open Benchmarks Grants, Terminal-Bench Science is also now in development, extending the Terminal-Bench framework to computational research workflows across the life, physical, earth, and mathematical sciences.

Beyond the grants program, Snorkel led the development of Senior SWE-Bench with the research teams at Princeton University and the University of Wisconsin–Madison. The benchmark evaluates coding agents on senior-level engineering work, including implementing features from realistic instructions, investigating bugs that require runtime analysis, and producing code that follows existing codebase conventions.

Open Benchmarks Grants was established with support from Hugging Face, Prime Intellect, Together AI, Factory, Harbor, and PyTorch. Applications remain open and are reviewed on a rolling basis.

Learn more and apply for a grant at benchmarks.snorkel.ai.

About Snorkel AI
Snorkel AI is the frontier AI data lab, helping teams build the data and environments behind high-performing frontier and agentic AI. We combine technology with research-driven AI data development to create datasets, benchmarks, evals, and custom solutions for real-world AI systems. Founded out of the Stanford AI Lab in 2019, Snorkel works with leading AI labs and enterprises to move from better data to better outcomes.

media@snorkel.ai

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SOURCE Snorkel AI

Technology

Payzli Vaults to No. 3 on Tampa Bay’s Fast 50, Up From No. 22 in One Year

Published

34 minutes ago

July 24, 2026

Payments technology company, Payzli earns a second consecutive Fast 50 ranking, crediting the climb to accelerating partner and merchant growth on its proprietary technology stack.

TAMPA, Fla., July 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Payzli, the partner-first payments technology company, has been named the No. 3 fastest-growing company in the region on the Tampa Bay Business Journal’s 2026 Fast 50 – a 19-spot climb from its No. 22 debut last year, and the company’s second consecutive year on the list.

The ranking was announced July 23 at the Tampa Bay Business Journal’s Fast 50 event in Tampa, where Co-Founder and Chief Revenue Officer Naim Hamdar accepted the award alongside members of the Payzli team.

Payzli attributed its growth to a compounding effect: a national network of ISOs, agents and ISVs bringing merchants onto a technology platform Payzli built and operated in-house.

That platform rests on three proprietary pillars:

Payzli Connect: the company’s payment CRM and merchant-and-partner dashboard, giving agents and ISOs daily residuals visibility and giving merchants a single place to run their account.Payzli POS: AI-powered point-of-sale and business software purpose-built for service businesses, including salons, med spas, wellness studios, and independent operators.Payzli Transact: an online payment gateway built on Visa Platform Connect through Payzli’s partnership with Visa Acceptance Solutions.

The Visa Acceptance Solutions partnership is central to how Payzli frames its credibility: rather than assembling a growth story on top of borrowed infrastructure, the company processes on rails backed by one of the most established networks in the industry alongside Fiserv and TSYS – a point that matters to the partners and merchants deciding where to place their volume.

“A second year on this list, and a jump to No. 3, isn’t about one good quarter. It’s about a network deciding to build with us and stay,” said Naim Hamdar, Co-Founder and Chief Revenue Officer of Payzli. “Every rank on this list represents partners we’ve earned and merchants who trust us to run their payments. We built the technology in-house so we could keep the promises the industry usually breaks: nothing hidden, a real person in reach, and daily residual visibility our agents can actually count on. That’s what this ranking measures and it’s why we’re doing it all, for the joy of business.”

“They say nothing in Tampa moves fast except the afternoon thunderstorms, so making the Fast 50 two years running feels pretty good,” said Kapil Pershad, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Payzli. “In all seriousness, this is a credit to our team and the businesses that trust us to power their growth.”

The Fast 50, produced by the Tampa Bay Business Journal, recognizes the fastest-growing private companies in the Tampa Bay region. Payzli’s return to the list and its move into the top three reflects a merchant-first product suite and a rapidly expanding national partner network across the payments and embedded-finance landscape.

About Payzli

Payzli is an end-to-end payments technology partner that makes accepting payments simpler and affordable for businesses of all sizes and risk levels. Founded in 2020 and headquartered in Tampa, Florida, Payzli brings together in-person processing, an advanced online gateway, AI-powered point of sale, and mobile and contactless payments – backed by its own technology, honest pricing, and dedicated human support. Built partner-first, Payzli equips ISOs, agents, developers, and independent software vendors to grow, with direct integrations to major processing platforms, in-house underwriting, a flexible credit policy, a Visa Acceptance Solutions foundation partnership, and sponsor-bank backing from Esquire Bank, a NASDAQ-listed strategic investor in Payzli. For more information, email partners@payzli.com or visit payzli.com.

Payzli is a registered trademark of United Payment Systems LLC. United Payment Systems LLC is a registered ISO of Esquire Bank (Jericho, NY), Commercial Bank of California (Irvine, CA), and KeyBank, National Association (Cleveland, OH).

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SOURCE Payzli